Officially a Toddler

Jay will be 17 months old at the end of next week.  He's probably technically been a toddler for awhile now, but we didn't start calling it official until this week.  What changed?  He was moved from the nursery at daycare to one of the toddler rooms.

He had his first full day in the toddler room last Friday.  Aside from a rough drop-off, it went pretty well.  He was not happy to see Justin go that morning though and had two big breakdowns about it.  Poor guys.  He moved to the toddler room with two other children from his nursery and a few from the adjacent nursery.  I found the transition to be bittersweet.  I know he'll love it and thrive on the new activities, but I was sad for him that he was leaving his nursery caretakers and some of his younger friends.  He really liked to play with one younger boy in particular and I was worried he'd miss him.

He's adjusted wonderfully though.  In the toddler room they have a set nap time and all the children sleep on cots.  He gets a fairly good nap on most days.  They keep the children really active with art projects, reading and lots of time on the playground or in the motor room.

Jay's been pretty tired each evening when gets home.  Dinner time can be stressful because he's tired and has absolutely no patience if he has to wait for his food.  He has complete meltdowns sometimes if he has to wait.  We need to figure out how to get him over that, because sometimes it's just not possible to have dinner ready when he walks through the door! 

Here are some recent pictures:

Some other Jay tidbits:
-He has one molar all the way in and another looks like it's trying to make its appearance.
-He's getting good at pointing to his nose, head and ears when we ask where each body part is.
-He still LOVES reading.
-He's saying more words.  He'll ask for a banana (nana) and say thank you.  He's been saying Mama on repeat the past few days.
-He's getting better at eating with a spoon and actually gets a decent amount of food in his mouth :)

Ok, that's all I can think of now.  It's late and Jay did get me up last night.  Not sure what his deal is, but he's woken up twice this week and after I've rocked him for a little bit in the chair, he does not want me to put him back in his crib.  He holds onto my neck so tightly.  So then I rock him a little while longer, but eventually I just have to put him back because I need to get more sleep myself.  Breaks my heart a little.  Hopefully he doesn't do that again tonight! 

February Recap

Can you believe February is already over?  I'm glad it's behind us, but man did it fly by!  Baby #2's due date is quickly approaching.  Just 3 more months people! 

February was a good month, even though it's one of my least favorite months of the year.  The work weeks flew by, but that's pretty standard these days.  Work's busy and then the evenings after work are busy, mostly getting things ready for the next day. 

Jay had his 15 month check-up on Valentine's Day.  Everything is good with him, but it was not a fun check-up at all.  He started crying as soon as the nurse measured his head and it just went downhill from there.  I had forgotten his pacifier too, which is a mistake I hope to never make again!  I could not get him to calm down for the longest time.  Finally they gave me a Dum Dum sucker to see if that would help.  It did, but boy did it make a mess.  He liked sucking on it, but didn't get the concept of swallowing, so we were both a sticky mess.  His stats from that check-up are 32 1/2 inches tall and approximately 26 pounds.  Around 90th percentile for both.  Big boy!  His next appointment is in May.  Hopefully he handles it better...or Daddy takes him to that one.

Our weekends were pretty busy too. 

The first weekend of February, we enjoyed a dinner out while Serena and John watched Jay, which was so nice of them.  The next night we had some people over for the Super Bowl.  Our neighbors brought their son over who is 2 months younger than Jay.  They had a really good time playing together and were so cute! 

The next weekend we had the blizzard, which took over the entire weekend.  That same weekend, Jay was dealing with some awful poopy issues, which resulted in middle-of-the-night baths and crib sheet changes.  That was no fun.  Thankfully he didn't have any other symptoms and was pretty much his usual happy self.  Just a little stinkier and dirtier. 

President's Day weekend my dad and sister Becky came for a visit.  Neither had been out to visit us in quite a long time and it was so nice to have them here!  We were homebodies for the weekend, but I think that was perfect because that way they got to spend some real quality time with Jay.  Here's some pictures from that weekend:

Prior to my family's arrival, I also took Jay for his second haircut.  Like the doctor's appointment just a couple days before, he was not happy about being there.  He was so happy and calm for his first haircut, but for this one he refused to sit in the special firetruck chair or wear the smock.  So I had to wear a smock and hold him.  Let's just say, we were both covered in hair and I definitely got my fair share in my mouth.  He won't need another one for a couple months at least, so hopefully next time goes better. 

Last weekend our friends from New Jersey came for a visit with their 22 month old son.   We hadn't seen them since summer 2011 and it was so nice to catch up.  Here are a few pictures from then:

 

Here are just some random shots taken throughout the month:

 

Like I said, it was a good month, but I'm glad to have it behind us.  Now we just need to make it through March and then the warmer weather should start arriving.  I can't wait!